Welcome to Professional and Technical Services (PTS) – experts in chemical disinfection for infection prevention. Our goal is to educate and provide you the latest resources related to cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces, medical devices and hands. As specialists in disinfectant chemistries, microbiology, environmental cleaning and disinfection, facility assessments and policy and procedure creation we are dedicated to helping any person or facility who uses chemical disinfectants.

Friday, February 15, 2019

I find, when it comes to Valentine’s Day, it is hit or miss
in terms of how or if people celebrate.My husband and I exchange cards and candy.This year I got candy.My husband only got a card.I have a colleague who decided that since he
never got anything for Valentine’s Day he was going to stop “celebrating”.If truth is known, my favorite day of the
year to celebrate is my birthday.It’s
MY day.I get to pick what we have for
dinner, dessert and what we do.Those
that know me may think that’s everyday and that may be slightly true, but on my
birthday I milk it for all it’s worth!

This year, while we exchanged cards and candy it was pretty
low key.We’ve had influenza hit our
house and my husband has had his first ever bout of pneumonia. Our infection
control measures have obviously been lacking and yes, if you’re wondering neither
of us had our flu shot… Since Valentine’s Day for many is a day of love, kisses
and snuggles, sharing
our germsis not really the ideal gift. Kissing is probably one of the most common signs of
love and affection, but did you know that our mouths are home to thousands of
different microorganisms? While kissing
can be a direct route of transmission for oral related diseases, in-direct
transmission through contaminated hands and surfaces leaves us susceptible to
catching someone else's "cooties".

While Valentine’s Day may be behind us, there are many who
will have waited to celebrate this weekend.For those who waited, I’m hoping these tips will help you stay healthy
during and after you celebration!So what's the best way to protect yourself this Valentine's Day? The
easiest and most effective way to prevent "cooties" is to practice
good hand hygiene (and of course don’t kiss sick people). To be on the safe
side, here’s a reminder of when you should wash your hands:

Before, during, and after preparing food

Before eating food

Before and after caring for someone who is sick

After using the washroom

After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing

After touching pets and animals

After touching garbage

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!If, like me you love chocolate and decide to hit
the stores to participate in post-Valentine’s Day Chocolate sales, I really
love Cadbury’s Mini-Eggs!

Friday, February 8, 2019

“Daft” may not be the most popular word, but it certainly
can be the perfect choice in some situations!
“Nicole, don’t ask such daft (aka idiotic) questions.” “Nicole, that’s a daft (aka stupid) idea.” Today, after working with my team on a
question I blurted out “don’t be daft” and thought, what a perfect title for a
blog topic!

If you’ve ever worked in retail, the restaurant industry or
any job that has an aspect of customer service, you’ve likely dealt with a daft
question or two.I’m not trying to be
mean, I happen to know more than your average person about cleaning and
disinfection.Ask me a question about
Geography or Excel formulations and well…I’m not so smart.One of the more common questions we receive
is why there are differences in contact times between concentrated and ready to
use (RTU) surface disinfectants and how do we dilute a concentrate product to
get the same concentration and claims as an RTU.

The short answer is, you can’t.Explaining why can be a bit more difficult.

I like to equate formulating disinfectants to baking
cookies.There is a basic cookie dough
that can be the start to a yummy treat.Throw in some chocolate chips and voila, you have chocolate chip
cookies.Feel like raisin pecan cookies,
mix in some raisins and pecans and start munching away once their cooked!What you can’t do with the basic cookie dough
is roll it out and make shapes like you would with sugar cookies or gingerbread
dough.Why?The recipe is different.The intended use is different.You cannot substitute one for the
other.Trust me on this, I have tried to
roll out the dough I use to make chocolate chip cookies.The end result left me with ugly, abstract
blobs.

Like cookies, disinfectants are formulated with a particular
“flavour”.That flavour may be a
particular contact time or efficacy claim.It may also be a particular application where the product may be run
through a system that dilutes it automatically prior to use. The constant
being, if the product was formulated to be diluted prior to use, it needs to be
used at the dilution rates as listed on the product’s label.If you happen to like the contact times found
on the label of a RTU product, you cannot try to dilute the concentrate in a
way that gets you “closer” to the concentration of the RTU.It just does not work that way.In fact, you could do more harm to yourself
or those in the space you’re planning to disinfect.Making a product more concentrated can have
dire effects that can lead to respiratory irritancy, eye or skin irritation and
compatibility issues.

When it comes to using disinfectants, read the label and use
the product as the manufacturer intended it to be used.The dilution rates and contact times are there
for a reason.Don’t be daft.

Friday, February 1, 2019

If you’ve ever
watched Despicable Me, you’ll remember the scene with Agnes and the
stuffed white unicorn screaming about how fluffy it was. If you’re like me, you
may have used the same description while petting a kitten, puppy, rabbit or any
other cute little (or big) pet. Pet lovers can’t help it. We pet, we cuddle, and
we kiss our beloved little creatures. Unfortunately, while our pets may seem
healthy, they can and often do carry bugs that can make us sick.

Case in point,
the CDC has warned owners not to kiss and snuggle your pet hedgehog as a result
of a Salmonella
outbreakaffecting eight states. So far 11 people have
been infected with 1 person hospitalized. Thankfully, no deaths have been
reported. The CDC is advising hedgehog owners to thoroughly wash their
hands after handling and/or cleaning the hedgehog’s living quarters due to the
fact that hedgehogs can carry Salmonella regardless of their healthy
appearance.

The CDC is also
warning people that children under 5 years old, the elderly, or people with
weakened immune systems, are at a greater risk for serious illness. If infected
with Salmonella you can experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach
cramps 12 to 72 hours after being exposed to the bacteria, and the illness
usually lasts 4 to 7 days. While most people recover without treatment, some
illnesses can last longer and be very severe.

This isn’t the
first outbreak
associated with hedgehogs, the CDC
had previously reported a 26 hedgehog-related outbreak, including one linked to
a death in Washington State with 45% of the cases found to be in kids 10 or
younger. Unfortunately, this is not likely to be the last outbreak associated
with pets. Anyone who has ever owned a pet knows they have the capacity for the
kind of unconditional love that is otherwise only seen between a human and its
offspring. We love our pets and they love us. We can’t help ourselves, we love
their licks, their nudges and cuddles. We just need to know that with this love
also comes the chance that our pets may make us sick.